Tom Sykes in front of Eugene Laverty – the two BMW colleagues were still in the same team last year and now the man in the back of the picture is a privateer, and he was able to test once before the race weekend began (© BMW Motorrad WSBK).

Live blog for the first day of WorldSBK 2021

Originally it should have been around 30 degrees Celsius for the weekend in Alcaniz like on Friday, but the forecast has recently changed completely. Currently, the forecast is now a maximum of 23 degrees on Saturday and Sunday significantly lower and even with up to 30 percent probability of rain during the day. So the situation with the tires is likely to be completely different. Scott Redding struggled with this situation beforehand because his size and stature made him one of the toughest in the field. This means that he can barely cover the full race distance of a normal run with the softer SCX tire developed by Pirelli for the Superpole Race, which only lasted 10 laps.

Scott Redding (Aruba.it Ducati) in the first race on the second weekend in the gravel – it was the low point in the 2020 season for the Englishman who had lost important points to World Championship leader Rea. He had won the first race of the double weekend back then, but then the problems came. Race one on Saturday could therefore also be a mental challenge for him.

The advantages of the lightweights and jockey figures
For drivers like his new team-mate Michael Ruben Rinaldi or, for example, Alvaro Bautista as another lightweight, it is very different from Redding. These two have the advantage of being able to choose freely, while some riders may be taking too high a risk with the SCX tires. Even Johnny Rea and Scott Redding are considering trying to take advantage of this. Even if it can go wrong with them, it can mean a difference of a good half a second per lap compared to normal SC0 racing tires. At least this is the assessment of Redding, but this does not necessarily have to be true. At least one way or another there will be tension and a prognosis for the race is almost impossible. Below are the Aragon statistics from the last few years with the drivers who were already there back then.

The questionable revelation limit of the FIM with the “Kawasaki castration”

The hair-raising injustice immediately catches the eye, even without the yellow colour. The Ducati Panigale V4R is allowed to turn a full 1500 rpm higher than the new Kawasaki ZX-10RR, it is like a bad joke what the FIM has just allowed itself to do with it.

The third free practice of WorldSBK on Saturday morning

What is absolutely certain remains the fact that the times of Friday and Saturday morning in FP3 are basically completely irrelevant. Day one was a pure training, without any influence on the events and the results of today Saturday. This is especially true if the conditions are completely different from the first two training sessions due to the temperature change. The following is the combined ranking from FP1 to FP3, before the drivers will soon take to the track for the Superpole, where something will be at stake for the first time this weekend, namely the starting position for the afternoon.

P, Rider, Bike, Time
1, Toprak Razgatlioglu, Yamaha, 1:49,695
2, Scott Redding, Ducati, 1:49,696
3, Alex Lowes, Kawasaki, 1:49,866
4, Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki, 1:50,050
5, Alvaro Bautista, Honda, 1:50,085
6, Garrett Gerloff, Yamaha, 1:50,223
7, Chaz Davies, Ducati, 1:50,260
8, Tom Sykes, BMW, 1:50,381
9, Andrea Locatelli, Yamaha, 1:50,467
10, Michael Rinaldi, Ducati, 1:50,668
11, Tito Rabat, Ducati, 1:50,874
12, Leon Haslam, Honda, 1:50,907
13, Lucas Mahias, Kawasaki, 1:50,943
14, Michael Vd Mark, BMW, 1:50,966
15, Jonas Folger, BMW, 1:51,090
16, Eugene Laverty, BMW, 1:51,194
17, Axel Bassani, Ducati, 1:51,231
18, Kohta Nozane, Yamaha, 1:51,376
19, Isaac Vinales, Kawasaki, 1:51,880
20, Christophe Ponsson, Yamaha, 1:51,952
21, Leandro Mercado, Honda, 1:53,384
22, Samuele Cavalieri, Kawasaki, 1:54,630
23, Loris Cresson, Kawasaki, 1:55,447

The Superpole of WorldSBK

Unfortunately, after his self-inflicted mishap in FP2 yesterday afternoon, Michael van der Mark had to spend almost completely in the pits in FP3 today. Believe it or not, the BMW works team couldn’t get their bike to run for almost 30 minutes! At the end of the day, the Dutch drove a single lap.
Lowes ahead of Rea and Gerloff, Davies, Bautista, Redding and Sykes at half-time. The riders hit the track for a second and final attack for a record time. Jonas Folger only manages the 15th best time so far. Now events come thick and fast and first Davies is very fast, then Redding on provisional best time and Sykes on P2. But Rea is on the red and has the fastest time with a minute before the end. It’s Rea who is on pole ahead of Redding, Sykes, Lowes, Davies and Toprak. Below is the provisional Superpole ranking, but Toprak’s time was deleted afterwards, and he is only 10th on the grid. Except for “Mister Superpole” Tom Sykes, all BMWs are far behind and surprisingly the best is Laverty of all people with only one test on P12 before that. Folger, on the other hand, is only on starting position 18.

P, No, Rider, Bike, Time(,Gap), LL
1, 1, REA Jonathan, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 1’48.458,
2, 45, REDDING Scott, Ducati Panigale V4 R, 1’48.733, +0.275
3, 66, SYKES Tom, BMW M 1000 RR, 1’48.840, +0.382
4, 22, LOWES Alex, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 1’48.890, +0.432
5, 7, DAVIES Chaz, Ducati Panigale V4 R, 1’49.069, +0.611
6, 54, RAZGATLIOGLU Toprak, Yamaha YZF R1, 1’49.155, +0.697 (best lap cancelled, moves to p10)
7, 31, GERLOFF Garrett, Yamaha YZF R1, 1’49.185, +0.727
8, 91, HASLAM Leon, Honda CBR1000 RR-R, 1’49.246, +0.788
9, 19, BAUTISTA Alvaro, Honda CBR1000 RR-R, 1’49.338, +0.880
10, 21, RINALDI Michael Ruben, Ducati Panigale V4 R, 1’49.516, 1.058
11, 53, RABAT Tito, Ducati Panigale V4 R, 1’49.761, 1.303
12, 50, LAVERTY Eugene, BMW M 1000 RR, 1’49.767, 1.309
13, 44, MAHIAS Lucas, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 1’49.951, 1.493
14, 55, LOCATELLI Andrea, Yamaha YZF R1, 1’49.962, 1.504
15, 60, VAN DER MARK Michael, BMW M 1000 RR, 1’50.189, 1.731
16, 3, NOZANE Kohta, Yamaha YZF R1, 1’50.435, 1.977
17, 23, PONSSON Christophe, Yamaha YZF R1, 1’50.489, 2.031
18, 94, FOLGER Jonas, BMW M 1000 RR, 1’50.628, 2.170
19, 32, VINALES Isaac, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 1’50.672, 2.214
20, 47, BASSANI Axel, Ducati Panigale V4 R, 1’51.107, 2.649
21, 76, CAVALIERI Samuele, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 1’52.717, 4.259
22, 36, MERCADO Leandro, Honda CBR1000 RR-R, 1’53.120, 4.662
23, 84, CRESSON Loris, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 1’53.649, 5.191

WorldSSP Superpole: Cluzel on pole ahead of Tuuli and Öttl

As in WorldSBK, there were some surprises in the WSSP Superpole. Nobody had expected Randy Krummenacher only in P15. With comeback man Fabrizio, however, the mouth seems to be faster than the driver who did not even make it into the top 20. The 2020 World Cup third place Philipp Öttl starts from the front row with Cluzel and Tuuli. Dominique Aegerter as a good starter also has a good chance of a podium on P5 between Odendaal and Caricasulo. In addition to the “Krummenator”, the start positions of De Rosa (P13), Öncü (P16), Gradinger (P22) and Webb as third-last are hair-raising for those affected.

P, No, Rider, Nat, Team, Bike, Time, (Gap, previous), Lap, Average, Topspeed
1 16 J. CLUZEL FRA GMT94 Yamaha, Yamaha YZF R6 1’52.937 8 161,835 270,7
2 66 N. TUULI FIN MV Agusta Corse Clienti MV Agusta F3 675 1’53.225 0.288 0.288 8 161,424 271,4
3 5 P. OETTL GER Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’53.353 0.416 0.128 8 161,241 272,0
4 4 S. ODENDAAL RSA Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team Yamaha YZF R6 1’53.402 0.465 0.049 7 161,172 270,7
5 77 D. AEGERTER SUI Ten Kate Racing Yamaha, Yamaha YZF R6 1’53.553 0.616 0.151 8 160,957 270,0
6 94 F. CARICASULO ITA GMT94 Yamaha, Yamaha YZF R6 1’53.650 0.713 0.097 9 160,820 268,7
7 70 M. ALCOBA ESP Yamaha MS Racing Yamaha YZF R6 1’54.033 1.096 0.383 7 160,280 271,4
8 38 H. SOOMER EST Kallio Racing Yamaha YZF R6 1’54.106 1.169 0.073 8 160,177 269,3
9 71 C. BERGMAN SWE Wojcik Racing Team Yamaha YZF R6 1’54.185 1.248 0.079 8 160,067 268,7
10 29 L. BERNARDI RSM CM Racing Yamaha YZF R6 1’54.323 1.386 0.138 8 159,873 273,4
11 22 F. FULIGNI ITA VFT Racing Yamaha YZF R6 1’54.367 1.430 0.044 8 159,812 270,0
12 81 M. GONZALEZ ESP Yamaha ParkinGo Team Yamaha YZF R6 1’54.374 1.437 0.007 7 159,802 264,7
13 3 R. DE ROSA ITA Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’54.388 1.451 0.014 6 159,782 264,7
14 23 D. PIZZOLI ITA VFT Racing Yamaha YZF R6 1’54.584 1.647 0.196 7 159,509 271,4
15 21 R. KRUMMENACHER SUI EAB Racing Team Yamaha YZF R6 1’54.674 1.737 0.090 3 159,384 273,4
16 61 C. ONCU TUR Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’54.786 1.849 0.112 7 159,228 272,7
17 34 K. MANFREDI ITA Altogo Racing Team Yamaha YZF R6 ESS 1’55.000 2.063 0.214 7 158,932 264,1
18 6 M. HERRERA ESP Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing Yamaha YZF R6 ESS 1’55.170 2.233 0.170 8 158,698 268,0
19 2 L. MONTELLA ITA Chiodo Moto Racing Yamaha YZF R6 ESS 1’55.252 2.315 0.082 8 158,585 271,4
20 95 V. TAKALA FIN Kallio Racing Yamaha YZF R6 1’55.393 2.456 0.141 8 158,391 266,0
21 84 M. FABRIZIO ITA G.A.P. MOTOZOO Racing by Puccetti Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’55.697 2.760 0.304 8 157,975 270,0
22 36 T. GRADINGER AUT DK Motorsport Yamaha YZF R6 ESS 1’56.012 3.075 0.315 8 157,546 259,0
23 42 S. FROSSARD SUI Moto Team Jura Vitesse Yamaha YZF R6 ESS 1’56.458 3.521 0.446 8 156,942 264,7
24 55 G. HENDRA PRATAMA INA Ten Kate Racing Yamaha, Yamaha YZF R6 1’56.512 3.575 0.054 7 156,870 275,5
25 19 P. SZKOPEK POL Yamaha MS Racing Yamaha YZF R6 1’56.690 3.753 0.178 6 156,630 262,8
26 99 D. WEBB GBR WRP Wepol Racing Yamaha YZF R6 1’57.443 4.506 0.753 7 155,626 261,5
27 24 L. TACCINI ITA Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki ZX-6R ESS 1’57.548 4.611 0.105 7 155,487 268,0
28 45 S. KAWASAKI JPN G.A.P. MOTOZOO Racing by Puccetti Kawasaki ZX-6R ESS 1’58.983 6.046 1.435 9 153,612 266,7

The first race of the WSSP 300

Ton Kawakami, Huertas and Orradre start from the front row after the drivers return from the warm-up lap. As in Moto3, it was particularly important not to start too far back at the start. A pole position, on the other hand, is not a particularly helpful starting position as in the larger classes, because many slipstream battles can be expected on the long straights. The first drivers are already on the ground before the first lap is over. The next one is Rodriquez-Nunez on Turn 9. As was to be expected, the positions at the top are constantly changing due to the slipstream duels, while Ana Carasco is only on P20. After the 3rd of 12 laps, Huertas is now in front of Booth-Amos, Orradre, Ton Kawakami and Buis. Unfortunately, long-lap penalties and track-limit penalties were also introduced in WorldSBK and WSSP, because the race stewards absolutely want to make their importance public. The first to catch it is Huertas, of all people, with a few centimeters in the ironically green marked area. He starts his penalty shortly afterwards and is then in P10.
The second half of the race
Booth-Amos crosses the finish line as the leader in front of Orradre and the Kawakami brothers from Brazil. Huertas is already back on P8. Ana Carrasco has meanwhile moved up to P14 when there are still 5 laps to go. Victor Steeman’s only KTM, used by the Freudenberg Racing Team, is in P29. At the beginning of 2020 there were four drivers, but now they only compete with one because there was simply no money for more. With three laps to go, Booth-Amos is still in the lead and Huertas has reached P3 when a serious accident happens in Turn 1 and one of the drivers remains lying on the ground. Red flags are the result and so the race is to be scored in the lap before. It was Battahin Sofuoglu and Meikon Kawakami who fell, and the latter did not get up afterwards. Kawasaki rider Adrian Huertas has just been proclaimed winner ahead of Tom Booth-Amos as second. Below the provisional result of the race, the riders not classified in italics.

P, No, RIDER, BIKE, BEST LAP, FL GAP
1, 99, HUERTAS Adrian, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’07.396, 0.198
2, 69, BOOTH-AMOS Tom, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’07.389, LEAD
3, 61, OKAYA Yuta, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’06.823, 0.262
4, 10, ORRADRE Unai, Yamaha YZF-R3, 2’07.450, 0.368
5, 46, DI SORA Samuel, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’07.452, 0.685
6, 1, BUIS Jeffrey, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’07.172, 0.547
7, 87, KAWAKAMI Ton, Yamaha YZF-R3, 2’07.270, 0.838
8, 17, MEUFFELS Koen, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’06.905, 1.509
9, 43, KHOURI Harry, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’06.842, 1.765
10, 8, IERACI Bruno, Yamaha YZF-R3, 2’07.377, 2.195
11, 11, CARRASCO Ana, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’06.452, 2.382
12, 64, DE CANCELLIS Hugo, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’07.118, 2.874
13, 41, GARCIA Marc, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’07.066, 3.169
14, 58, IGLESIAS Inigo, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’07.403, 7.200
15, 20, LOUREIRO Dorren, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’07.067, 10.331
16, 80, MASTROLUCA Gabriele, Yamaha YZF-R3, 2’07.937, 12.060
17, 59, ZANCA Alessandro, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’07.746, 15.692
18, 26, GENNAI Mirko, Yamaha YZF-R3, 2’08.080, 15.711
19, 73, PEREZ GONZALEZ Jose Luis, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’07.971, 15.832
20, 98, MILLAN GOMEZ Alex, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’08.267, 16.160
21, 21, PEREZ SELFA Vincente, Yamaha YZF-R3, 2’07.919, 16.305
22, 85, SABATUCCI Kevin, Yamaha YZF-R3, 2’08.311, 16.414
23, 77, BIJMAN Ruben, Yamaha YZF-R3, 2’08.665, 16.489
24, 93, GAGGI Marco, Yamaha YZF-R3, 2’08.360, 16.563
25, 97, PALAZZI Filippo Maria, Yamaha YZF-R3, 2’07.728, 16.712
26, 72, STEEMAN Victor, KTM RC 390 R, 2’08.611, 17.267
27, 54, SOFUOGLU Bahattin, Yamaha YZF-R3, 2’06.784, 1.212
28, 83, KAWAKAMI Meikon, Yamaha YZF-R3, 2’07.172, 1.214
29, 7, GIMBERT Johan, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’08.623, 20.858
30, 25, BERTA VINALES Dean, Yamaha YZF-R3, 2’08.451, 21.135
31, 53, SVOBODA Petr, Yamaha YZF-R3, 2’08.535, 26.066
32, 16, NEILA Beatriz, Yamaha YZF-R3, 2’09.915, 30.410
33, 36, RAINERI Stefano, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’10.515, 35.243
34, 27, DIEZ RODRIGUEZ Alejandro, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’10.631, 37.377
35, 22, ROMERO Joel, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’10.679, 38.442
36, 55, FRAPPOLA Antonio, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’09.660,
37, 14, MCMANUS James, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’11.650,
38, 70, DUARTE Miguel Santiago, Yamaha YZF-R3, 2’11.674,
39, 52, KONIG Oliver, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’08.639,
OT, 18, OFFER Indy, Kawasaki Ninja 400, 2’10.240,
OT, 19, RODRIGUEZ NUNEZ Victor, Kawasaki Ninja 400, ,
OT, 23, MARKARIAN Sylvain, Kawasaki Ninja 400, ,
OT, 48, BRIANTI Thomas, Kawasaki Ninja 400, ,
OT, 76, GIRAL ROMERO Julian, Yamaha YZF-R3.

The starting grid for the first WorldSBK race of the season in Aragon. Without a spectator with an entrance ticket, but like in MotoGP with a few onlookers in the VIP area, whose sums of money for this privilege were certainly considerable.

The highlight of Saturday: The first WorldSBK run of the 2021 season

Before the start, the hopes of BMW with the new M-1000RR rest almost solely on the shoulders of Tom Sykes. Despite a handicap of only one test before the start of the season, Eugene Laverty was second best with 12th place on the grid. An equally impressive performance was shown in Superpole with an almost identical starting position as the Northern Irishman Lucas Mahias directly behind and thus ahead of the works drivers Locatelli (Yamaha) and van der Mark (BMW).
The start of the race
After the warm-up lap, the tension rises to bursting and when the lights go out, it is Rea, followed by Lowes, Redding and Sykes, who lead the first race of the season. Behind Gerloff, a Toprak who started sensationally from P10 like Lowes is already in 6th position behind Davies. After the first lap, Rea and Lowes already have a clear gap on their first pursuers with Redding, Gerloff, Davies, Toprak and Sykes only on P7 ahead of Haslam, Rinaldi and Bautista. The gap after 2 laps is a little over a second between Lowes on P2 and Redding. Davies is now on P4 behind Redding and behind that Toprak is also past Gerloff. Sykes is seventh ahead of Haslam, Bautista, Rinaldi, van der Mark, Laverty, Nozane and Locatelli. Follower only on P16 behind.
The first failure
It’s Tito Rabat who parks his Ducati next to the track, and it looks like a technical defect and not a crash. Toprak Razgaglioglu is now past Davies and then Redding and is already on P3 as the first pursuer of the Kwasaki Duo. A little later, Davies grabbed the Redding in front of him and Bautista passed Sykes, leaving the BMW driver only on P8. Second-best Yamaha is still Gerloff on P6, while Haslam is still stuck behind Sykes, but is at least in the top ten ahead of Ducati factory driver and van der Mark. The gap between the two Kawasaki aces at the front is just over 2 seconds and they are currently safely controlling the race, while Toprak was able to pull away a bit from Davies.
Mercado also failed
Shortly after the MIE Honda driver pits, Bautista also grabbed Gerloff and is already in 6th position. Samuele Cavalieri is the next to give up at the pits. While Lowes is clearly falling behind, he will soon get company from Toprak, who is getting closer and closer to the Englishman. Meanwhile, Rea is still safely in the lead. Lowes was overtaken by Toprak and Davies is lurking right behind him, ready to try to catch his compatriot soon. Rea is more than 3.5 seconds ahead and Lowes is still defending himself very well in P3 behind Toprak and ahead of Davies.
The last third of the race with the last 6 laps
The leader is still more than 3 seconds ahead of his 3 pursuers, while Laverty rolls out with the BMW. The start of the season for the blue-whites is simply an absolute disaster. Your drivers are now paying the price for poor preparation. Gerloff is clearly losing ground with his SCX tire and has already fallen back to P9, from which Sykes on P7 and behind him Rinaldi benefited. With four laps to go, Lowes is still between Toprak and Davies and Redding apparently has no chance for a podium. Lowes tries to get past Razgatlioglu again and again, and is partly the faster man. But the Turk is an animal on the brakes and fights his way over and over again when there are still 2 laps to go. In the end, Rea wins ahead of Lowes, Toprak and Redding, who passed Davies on the last lap from start to finish. Below is the classification, unfortunately Bautista fell in the end,

P,  No, Rider, Bike, Time
1, 1, REA Jonathan, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, LEAD
2, 22, LOWES Alex, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 3.965
3, 54, RAZGATLIOGLU Toprak, Yamaha YZF R1, 4.008
4, 45, REDDING Scott, Ducati Panigale V4 R, 4.242
5, 7, DAVIES Chaz, Ducati Panigale V4 R, 4.615
6, 66, SYKES Tom, BMW M 1000 RR, 6.784
7, 21, RINALDI Michael Ruben, Ducati Panigale V4 R, 8.345
8, 91, HASLAM Leon, Honda CBR1000 RR-R, 10.187
9, 31, GERLOFF Garrett, Yamaha YZF R1, 10.326
10, 55, LOCATELLI Andrea, Yamaha YZF R1, 17.693
11, 60, VAN DER MARK Michael, BMW M 1000 RR, 21.154
12, 47, BASSANI Axel, Ducati Panigale V4 R, 27.523
13, 32, VINALES Isaac, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 30.963
14, 3, NOZANE Kohta, Yamaha YZF R1, 36.769
15, 44, MAHIAS Lucas, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 39.334
16, 94, FOLGER Jonas, BMW M 1000 RR, 41.544
17, 23, PONSSON Christophe, Yamaha YZF R1, 43.179
18, 84, CRESSON Loris, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, > 1′
RT, 19, BAUTISTA Alvaro, Honda CBR1000 RR-R,
RT, 50, LAVERTY Eugene, BMW M 1000 RR,
RT, 76, CAVALIERI Samuele, Kawasaki ZX-10RR,
RT, 36, MERCADO Leandro, Honda CBR1000 RR-R,
RT, 53, RABAT Tito, Ducati Panigale V4 R,

Jonathan Rea with flag – 100 victories in WorldSBK!
It is an absolute triumph for the best rider in history in the Superbike World Championship and, with Alex Lowes’ close second place, also for Kawasaki. Toprak showed his strongest performance so far in Aragon and Redding in P4 ahead of Davies, to the surprise of many, even missed the podium. It is also a victory for the sportiness and strength of the Greens that despite the handicap with ridiculously low maximum revs set by the FIM, it even managed to achieve a double victory in Aragon. Anyone who saw how much struggle Lowes pushed himself into second place can very well understand the satisfaction of the team.
The first interviews after the race
Toprak is of course very satisfied in the interview afterwards and, as usual, very taciturn. But the young Turk was tricked by Lowes even in the last few meters before the finish on P2, which annoyed him a little. This one, however, is happy and could hug the world. He had serious problems with the front in the second half of the race, as he stated on the record. According to his own statement, he was able to enjoy the fight with Razgatlioglu and he thanked his team very much for the great work that was done. Jonathan Rea was surprised at how slow the opponents were at the end and how much the lap times decreased. He is really looking forward to Day 2 and of course he was overjoyed to have reached the historic mark of 100 victories.

The podium with Alex Lowes (P2) from left, winner Jonathan Rea (both Kawasaki) and third-placed Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx) – a composition on the podium that was not expected in advance by everyone.

The WorldSSP 600 race

After the start, Cluzel leads before Öttl, Aegerter, Odendaal, Tuuli and Caricasulo. Leonardo Taccini is the first to fall, he has trouble getting his Kawasaki going again and shouldn’t have a chance for points. When Tuuli tries to pass Odendaal, he almost falls and falls back a little. Cluzel is still at the point ahead of Öttl, Aegerter and Odendaal when Davide Pizzoli fell after Montella. The race is also over for the Finn Vertti Takala. The next one to fall is Thomas Gradinger. Now Tuuli has passed Odendaal and is on P4 behind Cluzel, Öttl and Aegerter. Krummenacher can only be found on P13 when 5 laps are over and 11 are still ahead of the drivers. Tuuli has now passed Aegerter and Öttl one after the other and is behind the leader Cluzel on P2. Tuuli is now just behind Cluzel and the duo with Öttl and Aegerter is a good 1.5 seconds behind the leader from France.
The second half of the race
Former world champion Randy Krummenacher is only 13th behind Can Öncü, while up front it is not yet certain how and in what order the podium will be composed. Now Tuuli and Cluzel collided and fell. A little later, Aegerter and Öttl almost crash when the Swiss man, almost like Tuuli before Cluzel, drives the German into the rear wheel. Federico Fuligni also retired with a crash. Odendaal is just behind the two fighters in P3 and Caricasulo is clearly behind in fourth. For the second time since 2020, Jules Cluzel has been brought down by an opponent who collided with him. Last year it was Raffaele de Rosa and the Frenchman was out for some time with broken bones. This time, however, he apparently did not injure himself, while Tuuli was crouched in pain on the floor after the double crash.
The final of the last race of Saturday
With three laps to go, Aegerter and Odendaal just passed Öttl, but it looks like the German is still on the two in front of him. The Swiss is currently making the strongest impression, but he cannot pull away and Odendaal is sitting on the back of his neck, while Öttl seems to be beaten with 2 rounds to go. At the front nothing has been decided but the first three go into the last lap, but Öttl should no longer be able to fight for victory on his own. Now Odendaal is going to the last lap as the leader. The Swiss then passed the South African again, but the race has not yet been decided. The Bardahl Evan Bros driver made it past Aegerter again and took the win, while Öttl was third. Below is the provisional result with the unclassified in italics. In addition to those who fell with Tuuli and Cluzel in the lead, the losers also included “Krummi”, who only crossed the finish line in 11th place.

P, No, Rider, Bike, Time
1, 4, ODENDAAL Steven, Yamaha YZF R6, LEAD
2, 77, AEGERTER Dominique, Yamaha YZF R6, 0.099
3, 5, OETTL Philipp, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 2.635
4, 29, BERNARDI Luca, Yamaha YZF R6, 3.956
5, 81, GONZALEZ Manuel, Yamaha YZF R6, 4.738
6, 94, CARICASULO Federico, Yamaha YZF R6, 4.817
7, 38, SOOMER Hannes, Yamaha YZF R6, 6.121
8, 71, BERGMAN Christoffer, Yamaha YZF R6, 7.212
9, 3, DE ROSA Raffaele, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 8.352
10, 61, ONCU Can Alexander, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 16.135
11, 21, KRUMMENACHER Randy, Yamaha YZF R6, 16.279
12, 6, HERRERA Maria, Yamaha YZF R6, 22.257
13, 34, MANFREDI Kevin, Yamaha YZF R6, 22.296
14, 84, FABRIZIO Michel, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 34.274
15, 55, HENDRA PRATAMA Galang, Yamaha YZF R6, 37.978
16, 42, FROSSARD Stephane, Yamaha YZF R6, 39.308
17, 19, SZKOPEK Pawel, Yamaha YZF R6, 59.882
18, 45, KAWASAKI Shogo, Kawasaki ZX-6R, > 1′
19, 24, TACCINI Leonardo, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 4 LAPS
OT, 22, FULIGNI Federico, Yamaha YZF R6,
OT, 16, CLUZEL Jules, Yamaha YZF R6,
OT, 66, TUULI Niki, MV Agusta F3 675,
OT, 70, ALCOBA Marc, Yamaha YZF R6,
OT, 36, GRADINGER Thomas, Yamaha YZF R6,
OT, 23, PIZZOLI Davide, Yamaha YZF R6,
OT, 2, MONTELLA Luigi, Yamaha YZF R6,
OT, 95, TAKALA Vertti, Yamaha YZF R6,

The first interview
Philipp Öttl was a little unlucky, as he said on the record. At first, he had wired himself up, and later he got problems with the degrading tires. He thanked all sponsors, the family and the Puccetti Racing Team for their support. But the bottom line is that under these circumstances he is satisfied with another podium. Just like Dominique Aegerter, who immediately gave his Ten Kate Racing Team a podium when he made his debut in the WorldSSP. Their return to the Supersport 600 World Championship could hardly have gone better, and the Swiss is looking forward to the next race on Sunday. After his first win, Steven Odendaal was of course very relieved, and he could hardly find words for the triumph he had been working towards for so long. With Bardahl Evan Bros, the South African probably pulled the jackpot for this season as the reigning world championship team, but of course the reverse also applies to the team from northern Italy with him.

The podium after the first WSSP 600 race of the season with Dominique Aegerter (P2, Ten Kate Racing Team Yamaha), winner Steven Odendaal (Bardahl Evan Bros Yamaha) and third-placed Philipp Öttl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Team) from left.

This live blog is closed now, and we will continue with a new one tomorrow.

Motorland Aragon route map

WorldSBK has been racing in Aragon since 2011 and the first win was won by Marco Melandri on a Yamaha, while Aprilia ace Max Biaggi won the second run. The following year, the two Italians won again, but in reverse order and Melandri on a BMW. In the following two years it was first Davies and then Sykes on Kawasaki, which each took a double victory.

Schedule for the first race weekend of 2021

Unless otherwise mentioned, applies to all images (© WorldSBK).